Mushroom and Onion Pate

With me running around concentrating on food and Meredith with her mind on other things as well, we forgot to invite people to dinner the last Friday in January. Not even Facebook could help us (actually, it could, but the people who most wanted to join us most were either out of province, out of country, or overseas!). That didn't stop me from making dinner, but it certainly did result in lots of leftovers. I had a bunch of new things I wanted to try.

I decided to dig through some of the old school cookbooks and online for a vegetarian chopped liver recipe. The best (and by best, I mean worst), involved canned green beans. The more appetizing used mushrooms. Real chopped liver also uses hard boiled eggs, which I thought would be great for protein, so I decided to throw those in as well.

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Vegetarian Chopped Liver (Mushroom and Onion Pate)

by Daniel Saraga May-18-2011

Mushroom and onion pate is a poor substitute for real liver, but

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 medium onions
• 1/2 kilo fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 3 hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Heat oil on medium and sauté onions until translucent.2. Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until mushrooms are soft (and most of the liquid is gone).3. Transfer mushrooms and onions to a food processor and add walnuts, salt and pepper. Pulse until desired consistency is reached.Serve with matza or dry crackers.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 2 cups

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Sephardic Charoset

The day before the first Seder, I realized that my father wasn't going to be bringing charoset like he usually does. Usually, he picks some up from his synagogue. It comes in little balls and immediately before serving, wine is added and it's mashed up.

In researching Sephardic charoset recipes, I found that there were a few basic requirements: dried fruit, nuts, fragrant spices, one fresh fruit to get it to all stick together. One recipe used bananas instead of apples and I liked that idea, so I looked around the pantry, found the spices and dried fruit on hand and arrived at one of the tastiest charosets I've ever had.

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Sephardic Charoset

by Daniel Saraga April 19, 2011

This charoset is symbolic of the mortar used by the Israelite slaves to build in Egypt.

Ingredients

3/4 cup walnuts3/4 cup almonds1 tsp cinnamon, ground1 tbsp garam masala1/2 tsp ginger, ground1 tsp nutmeg, ground1 tsp cloves30 dates, pitted2 bananas, mashed1/2 cup golden raisins1/4 cup sweet red wine (e.g., Manischewitz, or use rice wine for gluten-free)

Instructions

1. Grind the walnuts, almonds, cinnamon, garam masala, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a food processor.2. Add dates, banana, raisins and honey, and puree and refrigerate until ready to serve.3. Before serving, slowly add wine until desired consistency is reached.Note: Charoset should be a thick paste, like a mortar.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: Total time: 1 hourYield: 2 cups

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Sweet Potato Pudding

The walnuts are optional, in addition to the
awesome doily action under the plate

• 4-5 cups sweet potato, boiled and mashed (3-4 large sweet potatoes)
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. In a large bowl, fold margarine into mashed potatoes and set aside.
3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, milk and sugar.
4. Add contents of small bowl to larger and mix thoroughly.
5. Transfer mixture to a greased casserole dish and sprinkle with walnuts.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The top of the pudding should be firm and dry.

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